“Cranky”
“Flower Hat Guy, Contemplating Everything”
For my object, I selected a small, porcelain, house-like container that I have had since I was little. The box has flower adornments as well as gold-tinted lining, a bird, and a frog (all porcelain as well). At first I had trouble selecting an object to photograph (I was bouncing between a clothespin, a Styrofoam board, a small, metallic/cranking music box, and this small frog-bird-flower house.
“Laying…with Attitude!”
After shooting test shots with all of the potential objects, I gradually realized that this box had a certain charm and potential to it; it had an interesting variation of colors (the dominant milky white, the gold lining, the dark forest green, and the bright, poppy-orange), as well as shapes (the rectangular inside, the triangular top, and the oblong frog). The outer lines of house could also create dynamic compositions within the photographs.
“The Trumpeter”
“Momento”
“Smallest Fan”
Out of the 100 images I shot, I found these ten to have the clearest thoughts behind the house’s position in the space, its interaction with other materials, and the most compelling developments of shape, lines, color, and perspective.
With many of the photographs (such as the ones titled “Flower hat guy…”, “Cranky”, “Trumpeter”, and “The Spectator”) I began to create characters by finding faces and other lively characteristics within the decorations on the box and other objects within the space. I discovered that developing personas became a beneficial way to capture meaning and humor within the photos. Thinking on a human-recognition basis also helped me develop ideas for the future photographs.
One of my favorites (out of the favorites), however, has turned out to be the photograph with the caption “Box City” (which does not contain inspiration from human/life-like features or behaviors). The blurred planes created from the background (with the hint of the miniature Austin skyline) glide behind the now seemingly large porcelain box. The gold tints of the concrete sign that the house is on creates a great unity within the photograph.
“The Spectator”
“Box City”
“Porcelain Bridge”
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